It's always nice to have a bit of Chesterton on a Saturday afternoon...

Man is an exception, whatever else he is. If he is not the image of God, then he is a disease of the dust. If it is not true that a divine being fell, then we can only say that one of the animals went entirely off its head… Man is always something worse or something better than an animal; and a mere argument from animal perfection never touches him at all. Thus, in sex no animal is either chivalrous or obscene. And thus no animal ever invented anything so bad as drunkenness — or so good as drink.

All Things Considered (1908).

h/t The Hebdomadal Chesterton

Turns out illegal abortion may be what made the iPhone possible...

Her name is Joanne Schiebel. In 1954, she was a young unmarried college student who discovered that she was pregnant. In the 1950s, her options were limited. She could have had an abortion – but the procedure was both dangerous and illegal. She could have gotten married, but she wasn’t ready and didn’t want to interrupt her education. Joanne opted, instead, to give birth to the baby... and put it up for adoption.

And so it was that in 1955, a California couple named Paul and Clara adopted a baby boy, born out-of-wedlock, that they named Steven.This adopted baby grew into a man who changed the world. We celebrate his life and his accomplishments and wish him the best in the afterlife. The baby’s name is Steve Jobs.

If you are thankful for the life of Steve Jobs; if you are thankful for the contributions he has made to the world and your life then today…thank his mother Joanne Schiebel for choosing life. Imagine for a moment how many Steve Jobs have been aborted...

[link]

I should add that every abortion is a tradgedy regardless of whether the child in question is Steve Jobs or not. Every life is of immesurable value.

Examples like this remind us that abortion doesn't just deprive a child of life, it also deprives the world of a child.

Don't forget, David Aron begins his 184 mile walk for the Good Counsel network tomorrow.

Give him some money...

The latest email to come from Catholic Voices is the announcement that the first Catholic Voices Academy event will be held at the London Centre of the University of Notre Dame.

Interesting choice of location... The supposedly Catholic University of Notre Dame which gave pro-abortion president Obama an honourary degree.

While the pro-abortion president was applauded inside, an elderly pro-life Catholic priest was arrested. This is how the University of Notre Dame treats pro-life Catholics...

Don't think that's just over zealous security staff. The university did not drop criminal charges against the protesters for nearly two years.

Pro-lifers (Peter Williams, Robert Colquhoun - I'm looking at you) should be asking themselves serious questions about how far down this rabbit hole they want to go. Do they honestly think that Austen and Jack got the yellow pages out and picked a venue at random?

I'm sure Maria won't mind if I steal her blog entry...

We know of his appalling case thanks to Christian Solidarity Worldwide - see its briefing on Pastor Nadarkhani here - which is campaigning for Pastor Nadarkhani's life and freedom of conscience.

We also know about Pastor Nadarkani thanks to leading Catholic blogger, Caroline Farrow, who has been unsparing in her efforts to raise awareness of this awful story. Read her superb post here and if you haven't already done so, please email and phone the Iranian embassy expressing your grave concern for Nadarkhani. Caroline has helpfully provided a template letter for your guidance.

The world knows about Pastor Nadarkhani thanks to campaigning lawyer and New Statesman writer, David Allen Green. Green, an Atheist whose commitment to human rights descends from the Enlightenment tradition has been tenancious in following the Nadarkhani story. When he writes, governments sit up and take notice. The Foreign Office released a statement not long after Green blogged about Nadarkani, as did the US State Department and so too did the Iranian Embassy in London.

Perhaps stung by the growing international clamour for Nadarkhani's life and liberty, the official Iranian news agency has recently been putting it about that Pastor Nadarkhani has been sentenced to death for rape and extortion and even more chillingly, claimed that he is a Zionist.

The New Statesman's Mehdi Hassan's eloquent denunciation of the death sentence levelled upon Pastor Nadarkhani as not only unIslamic but anti-Islamic was a perfect exposition of the humane heart of the Islamic faith and one which which Moslems all over the world will echo.

Meanwhile, in the very quarters that Nadarkhani should expect the strongest support, that is to say among Western Christian leaders, there has been unsconscionable silence, as both Archbishop Cranmer and Damian Thompson have noted with understandable disgust.

Thanks Maria and good work Caroline.

I'm not a huge fan of TV soap operas and it's been a long time since I saw any. My sister used to be big in to soaps so I used to see bits of them in the background but since I got married I'm pleased to say I'm completely out of touch.

However, judging by some of the emails I've been getting (and some of the comments on this blog) quite a few people seem to be under the impression that I have been getting my soap opera fix from the Birmingham Oratory. They seem to think I care about who said what to who, why it is that so-and-so has never got on with so-and-so, who may or may not have driven who to a nervous breakdown and so on.

Let me spell it out for you: I'm not interested.

This is not about the internal politics of the Birmingham Oratory. It has never been about the internal politics of the Birmingham Oratory!  Do you think I am stupid? Do you really think I would get involved in the internal politics of a religious community from 200 miles away based on hearsay over the internet? I wouldn't even get involved in the internal politics of a religious community if I lived next door!

So why am I getting involved? Because the problems at the Birmingham Oratory are not internal...

For  example: The lastest rumour from the Oratory is that everything is Fr Guy Nicholls fault... I know nothing about Fr Guy Nicholls so let me ask you: Did Fr Guy Nicholls pay Jack Valero to act as spokesman for the Oratory? No. Did Fr Guy Nicholls put Fr Duffield on a train and tell him to have his photo taken outside Eccleston Square?

I can't hear you... What's that? No?

Did Fr Guy Nicholls arrange the exclaustration of Fr Dermot Fenlon? No, that would require "either the direct approval of either the Holy See or the local bishop". Did Fr Guy Nicholls arrange for the recent press release on the new provost to come direct from the Catholic Bishop's Conference? No.

Fr Guy Nicholls is a red herring and the real culprits are getting away scott free.

After a week going to work during the day and sitting by Joanne's bed at night I find myself wondering:

I'm sure I was really busy all the time before this happened...

...what was I busy doing?

It's been four years since Summorum Pontificum but Catholics in York are still struggling to get to an EF Mass...

Mass in York

There will be no evening Mass at the Church of the English Martyrs in York this Sunday, 25th September. Please pass this information on to anyone that you think may be thinking of attending. Information about when Masses will resume in York will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

[link]

What's going on?